


Gone, Nothing to See

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Character Death, Friendship, Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 15:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14793494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: This is a death story, an alternate ending to MacGyver, episode 105. Mac saves everyone. Everyone but himself. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Gone, Nothing to See

He saves the terminal in Frankfurt and he saves the engine. He saves Jack, the way he’s done it so many times in the past. What he doesn’t save, is  _himself_.

* * *

They tell Jack that Mac fell, that he couldn’t hold on when the engine startled rattling and shaking on the tracks. He fell and he got pulled under.

They won’t let Jack see him, no matter how much he shouts and rages, how much he demands it, furiously yelling then desperately pleading. They won’t budge on this, but Jack refuses to give up, he refuses to–

Until an older man in a suit takes Jack by the shoulders and tells him, in a kind, heavily accented voice, “Son, there’s nothing  _to_ see. At that speed… There’s nothing to see.”

And that’s when Jack’s world crumbles.

* * *

He resigns. He can’t do this anymore, the job, not without Mac, not when it  _cost_ him Mac. He can’t. And so he resigns.

Thornton tries to change his mind but then she drops it, seeing that he’s made his decision and  _nothing_ can change it. And he’s grateful. He doesn’t have the strength to argue about this.

Riley… with Riley it’s another thing entirely. She doesn’t try to convince him to stay, no. She just glares at him and states in a cold voice, “So, you’re leaving again.” It sounds like she counted on that happening sooner or later anyway.

Jack stares at her for a long time. He just looks, not saying anything, and her hard, unreadable mask cracks a little, revealing her unhappiness. Jack would like to stay for her,  _be there_  for her, but he just can’t. Even thinking of staying makes it hard for him to breathe.

Besides, this is not about them, Riley and him.

He steps a little closer and he rests his hands on her shoulders and then he kisses her on the forehead, saying softly, “I love you, Ri. I really do.”

“But you won’t stay,” she finishes for him, her voice a little hoarse.

“I  _can’t_ ,” Jack replies, still quietly. He takes a step back and he looks her in the eyes. “For six years, I had Mac’s back. I protected him and I watched out for him… I  _promised_ him I would always keep him safe. And then he dies saving my hide. And that’s just wrong. I  _failed_ him. I failed so badly that–” He falls silent, his throat too thick to continue, and he looks away because his eyes are suddenly full of tears.

He takes a shuddery breath and drops his hands from her shoulders. “I have to learn how to live with that. And I don’t know how.”

Riley’s eyes widen a little. “You’re not thinking of doing something stupid, are you, old man?” There’s a little dread in her voice.

Jack shakes his head. “No. That would be an insult to Mac’s sacrifice. I could never do that to him. But right now, everything I’ve built my life on, is gone, in shambles. And I need to pick up the pieces before I can be there for anyone else, alright?”

He can see how much it costs her to nod and whisper, “Alright.”

Smiling a little, Jack reaches out and strokes her cheek lightly with his thumb. “You’ll be alright. Patty will watch out for you.”

* * *

He packs up his Shelby Cobra and locks up his flat, dropping the keys with his landlord. He’s not coming back. But before he leaves town, he goes and visits Mac one last time, his grave.

It’s a pretty site, on a little hill and under a big tree, the very new looking granite headstone all shiny and sun-dappled. Jack sits there, on the grass by the grave, for a long time, not saying anything, just keeping Mac company.

“I’m leaving LA,” he says finally. “But you probably already know that, right? You looking down at me from up there?” He glances up at the cloudless sky, smiling a little. “I bet you are. If there’s ever been anyone who deserved a trip up there, it was you. I just wish…” The smile falls off his face. “I just wish you took your time getting there.”

Then Jack takes a deep, fortifying breath and looks down at the headstone. He brushes his fingers gently across the inscription -  _Angus MacGyver, 1990-2016_  - and he has to blink hard to push back tears.

“I love ya, kid,” Jack whispers. “See ya soon.”

And then he gets up, his bones aching more than ever, and he heads down the hill, towards his waiting car. He doesn’t look back.


End file.
